Exploring arts & fashions throughout the past two centuries

Monthly Archives: May 2012

In 1945, 23-year-old Judy Garland married director Vincente Minnelli, her second husband.

Garland and Minnelli entered into a relationship, during the filming of Meet Me in St. Louis, after some initial conflict between them. Having to cope with Judy Garland’s chaotic behavior, Vincente Minnelli had to adopt an authoritarian attitude that slowly turned into a protective affection towards a self-depreciating and vulnerable actress. The relationship also surprised their entourage who observed that strange couple made of an elder effeminate director and a young troubled star.

While they were married, Garland and Minnelli worked together on The Clock (1945) and The Pirate (1948). Their daughter, Liza, was born in 1946, and the marriage lasted until 1951.

The romance began to weaken with Judy Garland’s worsened problems due in part to the discovery of her husband’s homosexuality that only increased the lack of confidence she had in herself, a postpartum depression and struggles in her career while Vincente Minnelli found himself in an ambiguous situation:

‘As director, I should have insisted on her fulfilling her assignment As concerned husband, I couldn’t. So I made excuses.’

The couple divorced in 1950 incapable of making one another happy (source).

Gilda is a 1946 American black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor and starring Rita Hayworth in her signature role as the ultimate femme fatale who becomes locked in a passionate love/hate relationship with a former flame, played by Glenn Ford, who also happens to be in her husband’s employ.

The film was noted for cinematographer Rudolph Mate’s lush photography, costume designer Jean Louis’ wardrobe for Hayworth (particularly for the dance numbers), and choreographer Jack Cole’s staging of “Put the Blame on Mame” and “Amado Mio”, sung by Anita Ellis.

In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

The Red Shoes is a 1948 British film about a ballet dancer, written, directed and produced by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, known collectively as The Archers.

The film employs the story within a story device, being about a young ballerina who joins an established ballet company and becomes the lead dancer in a new ballet called The Red Shoes, itself based on the fairy tale “The Red Shoes” by Hans Christian Andersen.

The film stars Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook and Marius Goring and features Robert Helpmann, Léonide Massineand Ludmilla Tchérina, renowned dancers from the ballet world, as well as Esmond Knight and Albert Bassermann.

It has original music by Brian Easdale and cinematography by Jack Cardiff. Filmmakers such as Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese have named it one of their all-time favourite films.